OIA Conference & Agm 2023 Delegate Booking Now Open & Keynote Headline Speaker Announced

Delegate booking for the OIA conference is now open for the annual two-day event, which this year is being held at an exciting new venue, Drayton Manor Resort, Tamworth, on the 16th and 17th March 2023.

After an interesting couple of years it is still great to meet face to face and learn, share and network with our industry colleagues at this key event in the outdoor industry calendar.

They are also excited to share our first Keynote Speaker, Tracey Crouch MP.

MP Tracey Crouch is former Sport and Tourism Minister and has worked with the OIA as part of the Government's new Sports Strategy. She is a keen walker and sportswoman, managing a youth girl's football team in her spare time. Having overcome breast cancer herself, she is currently planning to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in 2023 to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Kent.

The OIA Conference and AGM offers a packed programme of outdoor activities and keynote presentations and during the two days there will be the opportunity to gain valuable insights from influential speakers. This year we will be focusing on: Women in Leadership and the Outdoors, Sustainability and Diversity & Inclusion.

Bookings are now open and the discounted ‘Earlybird Rate’ is only available for a limited period (ends 16th January) and can be accessed via the link below. Further information, timetable and speakers will be updated regularly.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Tracey Crouch CBE MP for Chatham & Aylesford

ABOUT TRACEY

Born in 1975, Tracey studied law at Hull when after graduation she accidentally found herself working as a researcher to a Conservative MP rather than training to become a solicitor. Tracey has always been a keen sports enthusiast and since ‘retiring’ from regularly playing football has become a FA qualified football coach.

She was elected to Parliament in 2010 and in doing so became the first Conservative MP to take her Chatham & Aylesford seat. During the 2010-2015 Parliament, Tracey championed issues ranging from better dementia care, improving alcohol misuse treatment, addressing the problem of high cost credit, better rail services and upgrading our local infrastructure.

In 2015, Tracey was re-elected with an increased majority & asked by the Prime Minister to serve as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at DCMS – As the Sport & Tourism Minister she worked with the OIA and as part of developing the Governments new Sports Strategy she asked the CEO Andrew Denton to assist in weaving Outdoor Recreation into that strategy – perhaps for the first time the outdoors had a senior seat at the table of Government strategy.

Tracey is a keen walker & sportswomen , has been on an expedition to climb Cotopaxi an is hoping to summit Mountain Kilimanjaro in 2023 to raise awareness and funds for breast Cancer Kent.
She is currently still the MP for Chatham & Aylesford with another increased majority.

INSIGHTS & PARTNERS

BEX BAND – “LOVE HER WILD”

ABOUT BEX

Bex Band founded Love Her Wild (LHW), a women’s adventure community. LHW – which started as a small Facebook group and has grown to a social enterprise serving tens of thousands of women – provides support, opportunities and funding to help get more women outdoors for improved health and well-being. In 2022, LHW had their biggest adventure yet, the End2End hiking relay. 700 women carried a baton for 74-days and 2,000km the length of the UK.

As well as leading the community, Bex is an award-winning author and blogger whose website has had over 1.5 million readers. She’s also a keen adventurer herself. Bex has previously hiked 1000km, kick-scooted the length of the USA and has taken her baby on a desert adventure! For her work championing diversity in the outdoors, Bex was named one of the UK’s Top 30 inspirational Entrepreneurs and was interviewed for Clare Balding’s BBC R4 Ramblings.

CHARLES ROSS – “SUSTAINABILITY”

Charles started his career as an Outward Bound Instructor, but gave that up when he returned to a wet, dark, windy, & cold UK. Fortunately it coincided with the transition of the Outdoor industry to AthLeisure roots. He started his career in retail at Rohan, became a mature student, then got volunteered to teach Performance Sportswear Design & has ended up with some Ingredient Suppliers. He is meant to focus on teaching the PSD pathway at the Royal College of Art, but is more visible at Performance Days & the Functional Fabric Fair. His work has always had the theme of the next generation of materials, especially in relation to progress in sustainability. Others highlight his best ability as dumbing things down so everyone else can understand the issues.

MIKE SEAMAN – “NATIONAL OUTDOOR EXPO” CEO, Raccoon Media Group

ABOUT MIKE

Mike is the CEO and founder of Raccoon Events, a multi-channel media business that provides content and connections for people who love being active outside.

Mike is the CEO and founder of Raccoon Events, the company behind the National Running Show, The National Snow Show, The National Cycling Show, The National Outdoor Expo and OutsideAndActive.com. He is a keen runner who loves ultramarathons and generally being outdoors at any opportunity.

Raccoon Events operate media properties that deliver year-round content and advice to specialist, self-identifying consumers that share a love of being outside and active. They also organise large-scale exhibitions that are well-timed, community-driven, tightly focused and passion-led. They bring buyers and sellers together to see cutting edge innovations in a fun and exciting way.

MARTIN CARTER – “SUPPLY CHAIN” Head of Operations, Unsworth

ABOUT MARTIN

Martin is a senior logistics manager with extensive experience in freight and supply chain management.

Drawing on his 40 years’ of experience, Martin heads up operations at Unsworth, leading on strategy and streamlining processes to provide clients with industry-leading service.

In the forthcoming months they will release further details of the timetable speaker line up and outdoor activities. Whether you belong to the retail, distribution or manufacturing sectors or come from an education or activity provision background or from the charitable and non-profit sector, this is an event you cannot afford to miss!